933 Bridge work starts, some access stops

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – There are rows and rows of orange barrels along the State Road 933 Bridge as rehab work began. Crews started fixing the almost century old bridge on Wednesday. This comes a routine bridge inspection uncovered cracks.

On Day One of the project only one lane and one sidewalk were shut down, which allowed traffic to flow freely.

The main source of pain was for drivers trying to leave or enter the intersecting North Shore Drive. Its access has been closed.

"I found it blocked up," said Frank Pennino as he swung his car around to head back in the same direction he came.

Pennino said there’s some many other construction projects in the area that the neighborhood has become difficult to navigate.

"You got to go all the way around if you want to go to Martins or something, you got to go up to Vassar take Portage, go around the Riverside to Portage to Vassar," he explained.

So ABC 57 decided to drive the detour route. We started at the road closure at North Shore Drive and Niles Avenue. It took us four minutes to make it to the other side of the closure at North Shore Drive and Angela Boulevard.

But to make it to another main road, and out of the neighborhood, it took us ten minutes for the entire trip.

This includes making it past the Angela Detour and arriving at Portage Road.

For Pennino he said it seems like all the projects are just too much at one time.

"Why do they have to do it all at once? It seems like everything is done all at once," he added.

INDOT said the bridge rehabilitation will continue through the summer and be completed in September.

They will keep at least one lane open in each direction over the bridge as the work continues.